Roundup: Softball improves to 21-1

Special to Gatorsports.com

Published: Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 9:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 9:42 p.m.

Junior Hannah Rogers tossed a one-hitter against Drake and eight home runs for the Gators against FAMU helped the No. 4 Florida softball team improve to 21-1 on Saturday after the Gators topped the Bulldogs 4-1 and the Rattlers 20-2 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

Florida’s eight long balls against Florida A&M — including two grand slams — tied a school record for most home runs in a game, last achieved at Auburn in 2011. Seven Gators connected for the homers: junior Stephanie Tofft, freshman Taylor Schwarz and sophomores Jessica Damico, Katie Medina, Bailey Castro, Lauren Haeger and Briana Little. Haeger and Damico also connected for homers against the Bulldogs in UF’s first game of the tournament.

Rogers used a season-best 11 strikeouts for her fourth career complete-game one-hitter in the 4-1 win over Drake. The righty walked just two and held the Bulldogs hitless until the top of the seventh to improve to 9-1.

The Gators will play Presbyterian today at 1:45 p.m. in their final game of the weekend. Drake and Mount St. Mary’s take to the field at 9:30 a.m. to start the day.

Lacrosse: Senior attack Kitty Cullen scored four goals, while senior attack Gabi Wiegand and sophomore midfielder Shannon Gilroy each chipped in four points to help lead No. 2 Florida to a 14-10 win over No. 4 Syracuse in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sun Life Stadium in Miami.

The win helps the Gators remain undefeated at 7-0 and marks the first win over the Orange since 2011. In addition, it’s also the third win over a ranked opponent this season and second win over a Top-10 foe this season.

“I thought we went out and played really, really well as an offensive unit and I thought we did a great job in the goal cage with some huge saves,” head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “Offensively, we were really unselfish and we can have any number of players score when they have the opportunity. They all play unselfishly, so I’m just really, really pleased with the win tonight.”

The Gators used a balanced offensive attack from the trio of Cullen, Wiegand and Gilroy, who scored a combined nine goals and were backed by eight saves from senior goalie Mikey Meagher. Florida led the entire game, using three unanswered goals to start the game, but the Orange (2-2) didn’t make it easy as it cut the lead to two with 19:06 left in the second half.

Track and field: Junior Sean Obinwa built upon his impressive performance last weekend at the SEC Indoor Championships to capture another 800-meter title Saturday at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind.

Obinwa ran the second-fastest 800 meters of his career, finishing in a season’s best of 1:47.90. The three-time All-American sits in 10th with a few Last Chance meets finishing up later Saturday and today.

Two Gators also turned in season’s bests, including Agata Strausa, who finished third in the women’s mile in 4:37.58, and freshman Najee Glass, who finished just outside the all-time top-10 at Florida in the 400 with his fourth-place time of 46.51.

Glass and fellow freshman Arman Hall will be in the mix for the Florida men’s 4x400-meter relay squad, and Strausa should be in the lineup for the Gator women’s distance medley relay. Those teams sit in 2nd and 12th heading into the Last Chance weekend. The Gator men’s 4x4 owns three of the top-10 times in the country in the event.

Florida will compete at the NCAA Championships March 8-9 at Randal Tyson Track Center on the Arkansas campus.

The No. 2 Gator men are the three-time defending NCAA Indoor champions and the No. 10 Florida women turned in a top-10 finish a year ago.

Women's basketball: Florida travels to Columbia, S.C., to play No. 14 South Carolina in a 1 p.m. tipoff today in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The game will be televised live on SunSports (Cox Ch. 48 in Gainesville).

The radio broadcast can be heard on The Star 99.5 FM (WBXY) in Gainesville.

<p>Junior Hannah Rogers tossed a one-hitter against Drake and eight home runs for the Gators against FAMU helped the No. 4 Florida softball team improve to 21-1 on Saturday after the Gators topped the Bulldogs 4-1 and the Rattlers 20-2 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.</p><p>Florida's eight long balls against Florida A&M — including two grand slams — tied a school record for most home runs in a game, last achieved at Auburn in 2011. Seven Gators connected for the homers: junior Stephanie Tofft, freshman Taylor Schwarz and sophomores Jessica Damico, Katie Medina, Bailey Castro, Lauren Haeger and Briana Little. Haeger and Damico also connected for homers against the Bulldogs in UF's first game of the tournament.</p><p>Rogers used a season-best 11 strikeouts for her fourth career complete-game one-hitter in the 4-1 win over Drake. The righty walked just two and held the Bulldogs hitless until the top of the seventh to improve to 9-1.</p><p>The Gators will play Presbyterian today at 1:45 p.m. in their final game of the weekend. Drake and Mount St. Mary's take to the field at 9:30 a.m. to start the day.</p><p><b>Lacrosse:</b> Senior attack Kitty Cullen scored four goals, while senior attack Gabi Wiegand and sophomore midfielder Shannon Gilroy each chipped in four points to help lead No. 2 Florida to a 14-10 win over No. 4 Syracuse in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sun Life Stadium in Miami.</p><p>The win helps the Gators remain undefeated at 7-0 and marks the first win over the Orange since 2011. In addition, it's also the third win over a ranked opponent this season and second win over a Top-10 foe this season.</p><p>“I thought we went out and played really, really well as an offensive unit and I thought we did a great job in the goal cage with some huge saves,” head coach Amanda O'Leary said. “Offensively, we were really unselfish and we can have any number of players score when they have the opportunity. They all play unselfishly, so I'm just really, really pleased with the win tonight.”</p><p>The Gators used a balanced offensive attack from the trio of Cullen, Wiegand and Gilroy, who scored a combined nine goals and were backed by eight saves from senior goalie Mikey Meagher. Florida led the entire game, using three unanswered goals to start the game, but the Orange (2-2) didn't make it easy as it cut the lead to two with 19:06 left in the second half.</p><p>Florida returns to action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts No. 7 Loyola (MD).</p><p><b>Track and field:</b> Junior Sean Obinwa built upon his impressive performance last weekend at the SEC Indoor Championships to capture another 800-meter title Saturday at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind.</p><p>Obinwa ran the second-fastest 800 meters of his career, finishing in a season's best of 1:47.90. The three-time All-American sits in 10th with a few Last Chance meets finishing up later Saturday and today.</p><p>Two Gators also turned in season's bests, including Agata Strausa, who finished third in the women's mile in 4:37.58, and freshman Najee Glass, who finished just outside the all-time top-10 at Florida in the 400 with his fourth-place time of 46.51.</p><p>Glass and fellow freshman Arman Hall will be in the mix for the Florida men's 4x400-meter relay squad, and Strausa should be in the lineup for the Gator women's distance medley relay. Those teams sit in 2nd and 12th heading into the Last Chance weekend. The Gator men's 4x4 owns three of the top-10 times in the country in the event.</p><p>Florida will compete at the NCAA Championships March 8-9 at Randal Tyson Track Center on the Arkansas campus. </p><p>The No. 2 Gator men are the three-time defending NCAA Indoor champions and the No. 10 Florida women turned in a top-10 finish a year ago. </p><p><b>Women's basketball:</b> Florida travels to Columbia, S.C., to play No. 14 South Carolina in a 1 p.m. tipoff today in the regular-season finale for both teams.</p><p>The game will be televised live on SunSports (Cox Ch. 48 in Gainesville).</p><p>The radio broadcast can be heard on The Star 99.5 FM (WBXY) in Gainesville.</p>